Passwords, Don't Be Stupid

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07/12/2009 10:26 pm
I don't know about you, but I have a lot of passwords. But that isn't really the problem, I have a nice little book that I keep them in categorized into "business", "personal" and "FTP". Everything in the book is also accessible in my PDA for when I'm out and about. But this post isn't about how many or how you remember them but what kind if passwords you use.

Believe it or not in this brave new world of hackers on every street corner in the world just drooling at the chance to get your Bank of America or Wells Fargo account password, people are still using words that can easily be found in the dictionary! Wrong, wrong, wrong! If would take a reasonably good hacker minutes or maybe seconds to guess your password if that is what you are doing. Check this list of the top 500 passwords HERE and if any of your passwords show up here change it immediately.

But what to change it to? Use a combination of letters and numbers that are easy for you to digest. You will never really remember it but something that "looks" easy for you once you do look it up is the best. I like using an "almost" word like "blibby" or "snuckle" with a number combo on the front or back. If I can't remeber it outright, the first time I see it I get it. Something like "Aa9l2zp60" makes my eyes roll and is slow to enter for me. So I use "almost words".

And whatever you do, don't use one password for all your accounts. For your minor accounts like comments to a blog or registering to a dieting site maybe but for your bank accounts or PayPal or important stuff smart money says to use different passwords for all of them. And change them often. Once a year at most, every few months is better. It doesn't take much time and if you pack a little book and PDA like I do, you'll always have them on hand.

The digital lifestyle is a bit of a pain in the ass, but isn't it fun other wise?

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